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Lonny Price
Lonny Price
Born	March 9, 1959 (age 65); New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	Juilliard School
Occupation(s)	Theatre/film/television director, actor, writer

Lonny Price (born March 9, 1959) is an American director, actor, and writer, primarily in theatre. He is best known for his New York directing work, including Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Company, and Sondheim! The Birthday Concert. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for his creation of the role of Charley Kringas in the Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along, Neil Kellerman in Dirty Dancing, and Ronnie Crawford in The Muppets Take Manhattan.

Biography

Early life

Price was born in New York City, the son of Edie L. (Greene), a merchandise manager, and Murray A. Price, a car leasing company owner.^[1] Price grew up in Fresh Meadows, New York and Metuchen, New Jersey.^[2] He attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, and the Juilliard School, which he only attended for a year in order to begin pursuing acting professionally.^[3]

Acting career

His early career was spent performing in Off-Broadway productions, including Class Enemy in 1979, for which he won a Theater World Award for outstanding stage debut.^[4]

His first major Broadway credit was the ill-fated Stephen Sondheim/Hal Prince/George Furth musical Merrily We Roll Along (1981), which underwent constant changes during an unusually long preview period and closed after only sixteen performances. His next show, the Athol Fugard play "Master Harold"...and the Boys - in which he portrayed a South African student opposite Danny Glover and Zakes Mokae as the family servants - ran for eight months.^{[citation needed]}

Possibly his most significant Off-Broadway stage credit as an actor is the William Finn – James Lapine musical Falsettoland as Mendel in 1990.^[5]

Price's film and television credits include major supporting roles in The Muppets Take Manhattan and Dirty Dancing, and guest appearances on The Golden Girls and Law & Order, among others.^{[citation needed]}

In 1989, he appeared as Jimmy Durante in the musical biography Durante.^[6]

Directing career

Price made his directorial debut with the Off-Broadway revival of The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N in 1989 for the American Jewish Theater,^[7] followed by The Rothschilds and Juno, both of which received Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Revival.

Price served as Associate Artistic Director for the American Jewish Theatre from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s.^[8] He was artistic director at Musical Theatre Works, a non-profit theatre dedicated solely to the development of new musicals until 2002, when he became resident director.^[9]

He was a staff director for the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, for which he was part of a team that received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series Directing in 1995.^[10]

He has directed numerous musical productions, both concert and non-concert, with the New York Philharmonic, which include Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd with Patti LuPone and George Hearn in 2000,^[11] for which he won an Emmy Award, Leonard Bernstein's Candide (2004), with Kristin Chenoweth, Sir Thomas Allen, and Patti LuPone, Passion with Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, which won an Emmy Award, and Camelot with Gabriel Byrne, Marin Mazzie, Christopher Lloyd, and Nathan Gunn, among other productions.

In 2000, Price co-wrote (with Linda Kline), directed, and starred in A Class Act, based on the life and career of composer-lyricist Edward Kleban, whose sole Broadway credit was A Chorus Line. The score consisted of songs Kleban had written for other shows that remained unproduced.^[12]^[13] After a two-month run at the Manhattan Theatre Club, it transferred to the Ambassador Theatre, where it fared less successfully and closed after three months.^[13] It earned Price his sole Tony Award nomination to date, for Best Book of a Musical. The show was also nominated for four other Tony Awards, including Best Musical.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, he directed a Broadway revival of 110 in the Shade at the Roundabout Theatre Company, starring Audra McDonald. The play was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award, Best Revival of a Musical (among others).^[14]

In March 2010, he conceived and directed Sondheim! The Birthday Concert at the New York Philharmonic, celebrating the composer-lyricist's 80th Birthday.^[15] The PBS television broadcast was nominated for several Emmy Awards, and Price won for "Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special".

In April 2011, he directed an acclaimed concert production of Sondheim's Company with Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Martha Plimpton, Christina Hendricks, and Patti LuPone, backed by the New York Philharmonic.^[16]^[17]

In 2013, he again directed Sweeney Todd at the New York Philharmonic, this time starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel. The PBS telecast for Live from Lincoln Center won the Emmy Award for "Outstanding Variety, Music, Or Comedy Special".

He has directed numerous productions at the Chicago Ravinia Festival, including Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park With George, Anyone Can Whistle, Passion, and Annie Get Your Gun. Frequent collaborators for his productions include performers Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris, and George Hearn, and musical director and conductor Paul Gemignani.

He directed the 2014 Broadway production of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill starring McDonald, who won her historic sixth Tony Award for her performance as Billie Holiday. He would subsequently stage the production in 2017 on the West End in London, again starring McDonald, as well as the HBO special. In 2016, he directed the acclaimed London revival of Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close, which transferred to Broadway and played a limited run in 2017.

In 2016, Price directed the documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, which chronicles the ill-fated journey of Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince's original 1981 Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along. It played the New York Film Festival, and was named one of the New York Times Top Ten Films of 2016.^[18]^[19]

His episodic television directing work includes five episodes of Desperate Housewives and three episodes of 2 Broke Girls.

In 2019, Price directed the Roundabout Theatre Company premiere of the musical Scotland, PA.^[20] Price is a guest instructor at HB HB Studio.^[21]

Credits

Broadway

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Survivor	Rudy
1981	Merrily We Roll Along	Charley Kringas
1982	"Master Harold"...and the Boys	Hally
1986	Rags	Ben
1987	Broadway	Roy Lane
1987	Burn This	Larry (replacement)
1994	Sally Marr…and her escorts	Director, Writer
2001	A Class Act	Ed Kleban, Director, Book	Tony Award for Best Musical (nominee)
2003	Urban Cowboy	Director
2003	"Master Harold"...and the Boys	Director
2007	110 in the Shade	Director	Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (nominee), Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Musical (nominee)
2014	Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill	Director	also West End
2017	Sunset Boulevard	Director	also West End
2022	Walking with Ghosts	Director	also West End

Off-Broadway

Year	Title	Role	Theater/Company	Notes
1979	Class Enemy	Rakes	Perry St. Theater
1983	Up from Paradise	Abel	Jewish Repertory Theater
1985	Rommel’s Garden	Private Ackenbaum	Harold Clurman Theater
1986	Room Service	Faker Englund	Roundabout Theatre Company
1987	Come Blow Your Horn	Buddy Baker	Jewish Repertory Theatre
1989	The Education of HYMAN KAPLAN*	Director	Jewish Repertory Theatre
1990	Falsettoland	Mendel	Lucille Lortel Theatre
1990	The Rothschilds	Director	American Jewish Theatre	Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival (nominee)
1991	Grown Ups	Director	American Jewish Theatre
1991	The Matchmaker	Director	Roundabout Theatre Company
1992	Juno	Director	Vineyard Theatre	Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival (nominee)
1995	Pal Joey	Director	New York City Center
1996	The Springhill Singing Disaster	Director	47th Street Theatre
1997	Visiting Mr. Green	Director	Union Square Theatre
1999	Finian's Rainbow	Director	New York City Center
2000	Sweeney Todd	Director	David Geffen Hall
2000	A Class Act	Ed Kleban, Director, Book	New York City Center
2004	Can-Can	Director	New York City Center
2004	Candide	Director	David Geffen Hall
2006	Kismet	Director	New York City Center
2006	Stopping Traffic	Director	Vineyard Theatre
2011	Company	Director	David Geffen Hall
2019	Scotland, PA	Director	Roundabout Theatre Company

Film

Year	Title	Role
1980	Headin’ for Broadway	Steven Levy
1981	The Chosen	Davey
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Ronnie Crawford
1987	Dirty Dancing	Neil Kellerman
1988	Hot to Trot	Frank
1992	Flodder in Amerika!	Geoffrey
2016	Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened	Director, Writer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	ABC Afterschool Specials	Danny Dawson
1980	Love Cycle: A Soap Operetta	Tom
1985	Hail to the Chief	Steve	1 episode
1987	Not Quite Human	Mr. Sturges
1988	The Golden Girls	Hastings	1 episode
1988	Dear John	Andrew Garberg	1 episode
1989	Jacob Have I Loved	Mr. Rice	TV movie
1990	Doctor Doctor	Peter Balcovske	1 episode
1990	Loving	Howie Miller	1 episode
1991	Law & Order	Frank Hoover / Dr. Lieber	2 episodes
1994–1996	One Life to Live	Director	3 episodes
1996	O'Henry’s Christmas	Jack	TV movie
2001	PBS Great Performances: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert	Director
2005	PBS Great Performances: Leonard Bernstein's Candide, a Comic Operetta in Two Acts	Director
2005	Live from Lincoln Center: Passion	Director	Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program^[22]
2007	PBS Great Performances: Company: A Musical Comedy	Director
2008	Live from Lincoln Center: Camelot	Director
2010	PBS Great Performances: Sondheim! The Birthday Concert	Director
2010–2011	Desperate Housewives	Director	5 episodes
2011	PBS Great Performances: Company	Director
2012	Live from Lincoln Center: One Singular Sensation! Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch	Director
2012–2016	2 Broke Girls	Director	3 episodes
2013	Live from Lincoln Center: Ring Them Bells! A Kander & Ebb Celebration	Director
2014	Live from Lincoln Center: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - In Concert with the New York Philharmonic	Director
2014	Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic New Year’s Eve Gershwin Celebration	Director
2015	The Jack and Triumph Show	Director	2 episodes
	Gypsy: Live from the Savoy Theatre	Director
	Live from Lincoln Center: Sinatra: Voice for a Century	Director
2016	Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill	Director	HBO
2016	Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve: An Enchanted Evening	Director
2017	Dirty Dancing	Neil Kellerman	TV movie
2018	Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve with Renée Fleming	Director
2018	PBS Great Performances: Harold Prince: The Director’s Life	Director
2019	Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve 2019: Celebrating Sondheim	Director
2021	Show of Titles	Director
2021	The Bite	Director	1 episode

Awards and nominations

Award / Organization	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref(s)
Theatre World Award	1980	Outstanding Stage Debut	Class Enemy	Won	^[23]
Daytime Emmy Awards	1995	Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team	One Life to Live	Nominated
Tony Awards	2001	Best Book of a Musical	A Class Act	Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards	2002	Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program	PBS Great Performances: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Won
	2008	Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program	PBS Great Performances: Company	Nominated
	2011	Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special	PBS Great Performances: Sondheim! The Birthday Concert	Won